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Sorry for not posting last week but I didn’t get a chance to post Friday or Saturday and Sunday I was too wiped out to post so I’m combining day 3 of week 8 and day 1 of week 9 in this post. 
I made it through both days ok but it was a battle against my mind once again for both runs. The course I took on Friday was less uphill than the one I did last Wednesday but it was still a hard run. For most of the last 15 minutes I was pretty much telling myself I could make it in spite of the pleading to just walk. It was the same way for today’s run, which was my first 30 minute run, I ran in spite of my body and mind pleading with me to quit.
It didn’t help matters any that the enter button on my Garmin decided to quit working so I couldn’t pace my runs to my heart rate because the normal display of the heart rate is too small for me to see when running. Usually I set my workout so I stay in a certain HR range and when I do that the HR display is big enough for me to keep an eye on it. However, without being able to choose my planned workout I had to go with the default screens which are setup more for timing the pace of the run and not the HR.
Hopefully I’ll be able to get that enter button situation resolved and be able to get back to HR training, but I think the workouts are still going to be difficult until I have been running 30 minutes consistently for a few months. After that I’ll probably start working on my pace. I had planned on running 5K on Friday but I’ll probably just do the 30 minutes for a couple more weeks to get my body into better shape before trying the 3.1 miles. Here are my stats for day 3 week 8 and day 1 week 9.
Garmin Forerunner 305 stats for the Day 3 Week 8 run:
Total workout time, including warm-up and cool-down: 39 Minutes
Average Pace: 1 mile in 12 minutes 26 seconds
Avg Speed/Max Speed: 4.8 mph/11.7 mph
Average Heart Rate: 163 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 193 bpm
Total Distance: 3.04 Miles
Calories Burned: 475
Garmin Forerunner 305 stats for the Day 1 Week 9 run:
Total workout time, including warm-up and cool-down: 41 Minutes
Average Pace: 1 mile in 12 minutes 8 seconds
Avg Speed/Max Speed: 4.9 mph/7.7 mph
Average Heart Rate: 157 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 177 bpm
Total Distance: 3.38 Miles
Calories Burned: 529
Just a note, Wednesday’s run results probably wont be posted until Thursday as I have to work late Wednesday so that’ll be the next post from me. I posted week 8’s summary right before this post if you would like to see that. Have a great Tuesday and Wednesday! 
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Tags: couch-to-5k, running, fitness
Day 2 of week 8 started at a new location. Instead of going out early in the morning I decided to run during my break at work. There is a shower there and there are a number of employees who run during their lunch hour so I decided that I would do the same. I figured this would give me some new scenery and would be a good change of pace. Plus, this would give me a chance to get outside in the nice weather during the day.
Well, there are a few different routes that I could take so I chose one at random and started chugging along. I was able to keep my HR within my goal range for about the first 2.5 to 3 minutes of the run. After that, it was in the 160’s then 170’s then 180’s… The route I chose ended up starting with a short run uphill followed by about a 3 minute stretch downhill and then pretty much uphill again for the rest of the run! My HR slowly climbed until it was near the max HR during the last 8 to 10 minutes of the run. It was pretty much a battle against my mind for about 15 minutes of the run. My mind kept telling me to just walk, slow down walk and get some beats back. I resisted the urge, even though it was extremely hard, and managed to just squeak out the 28 minutes. There wasn’t even enough gas left in my tank to push it hard for the last 15 to 30 seconds of the run, I pretty much gave it all I had to make it to 28 minutes.
Even though I went about 45 seconds slower per mile than on Monday I still couldn’t keep my HR under control because of so much uphill running. That pretty much wiped me out for the rest of the day and night but I’m still happy I pushed through the pain and completed the run. I plan on running again during my lunch hour tomorrow but this time I have a different route I am going to take, one that isn’t so much uphill work.
Garmin Forerunner 305 stats for todays run:
Total workout time, including warm-up and cool-down: 39 Minutes
Average Pace: 1 mile in 12 minutes 50 seconds
Avg Speed/Max Speed: 4.7 mph/6.9 mph
Average Heart Rate: 164 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 191 bpm
Total Distance: 3.04 Miles
Calories Burned: 429
As you can see from the stats, I was no where near as fast today as I was Monday but my HR was well above where it was then. I guess it’s not always about the speed of the run, sometimes the terrain gets the best of you too.
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Tags: couch-to-5k, running, fitness
Phew, made it through the 28 minute run for day 1 of week 8. Only 4 more timed workouts left for me, on day 3 of week 9 I am going to set my goal for 5K instead of just 30 minutes. The 5K should take me about 33 to 35 minutes so it’s going to be a bit of a stretch.
Today’s workout went pretty good. I didn’t really have any internal struggles until about 23 minutes into the running portion, that’s when it seemed to get pretty tough. Even though the last few minutes were a struggle I made it through and was able to push it again for the last 30 seconds of the run.
I waited a bit before going running this morning because it was dark and would have been hard for me to see my watch to keep an eye on my HR. Instead, I read the Bible and prayed first thing this morning which I usually do after my run; I believe that helped me out by setting my mind in a good place first thing before the run.
The total distance I went this morning was 3.22 miles, but I only ran for 2.49 miles of that and the rest was the warmup and cooldown walking which accounted for a total of 11 minutes.
Garmin Forerunner 305 stats for todays run:
Total workout time, including warm-up and cool-down: 39 Minutes
Average Pace: 1 mile in 12 minutes 6 seconds
Avg Speed/Max Speed: 5.0 mph/13.1 mph
Average Heart Rate: 153 bpm
Max Heart Rate: 182 bpm
Total Distance: 3.22 Miles
Calories Burned: 510
On a side note, I think the Ullrey podcast for today was only 27 minutes instead of 28 minutes for the run. When Robert said there was only a minute left my Garmin said there was 2 minutes left. So, if you are following along with the podcasts just keep that in mind and make sure to keep going another minute.
I’m almost done with the program, now I just have to make sure I keep up with the exercise instead of thinking up excuses for not getting out to run.
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Tags: couch-to-5k, running, fitness
